Widescreen Weekend

Widescreen Weekend is a unique festival of large-screen formats and cinema technologies celebrating the past, present and future of film.

Enjoy a long weekend of big, bold and wide cinema experiences as we showcase the museum’s fantastic projection facilities. Glorious 70mm screenings, new Cinerama restorations and great guests will remind you why going to the movies is so magical.

This year’s Widescreen Weekend will include a special Women in Widescreen celebration, plus Celluloid Saturday—a full day of film on film. Read on for details of the first four films announced for our fantastic 2019 programme. Check back for further announcements in August.

Festival pass types and prices

Buy your festival pass online. Passes can also be purchased from the National Science and Media Museum box office, or by calling (+44) 0871 902 5756.

Full pass holders will receive access to all screenings and events, including the Opening Night reception.

Full pass

Price:£120

Full pass—concession

Price:£100

Full pass—Picturehouse member

Price:£110

Full pass—Picturehouse member—concession

Price:£90

Full pass—under-25s

Price:£80

Full passes will be available to collect from the festival delegate desk from Thursday 10 October

Price:

Join us on Thursday 10 October for a day dedicated to future filmmakers. With talks and sessions from industry guests and the famous Student Widescreen Film of the Year Competition, you’ll spend the day learning why widescreen is so great.

A student day pass gives you access to all screenings and events on Thursday 10 October, including the Opening Night screening and reception.

Student day pass

Price:£22

Present your confirmation at the festival delegate desk on 10 October to receive your tickets for the day’s events

Price:

Widescreen Weekend’s Saturday is dedicated to photochemical film. Whether it’s 35mm, 70mm or 3-strip Cinerama, Saturday is the day to immerse yourself in celluloid and experience the heart and soul of the festival.

The Celluloid Saturday day pass gives you access to all screenings on Saturday 12 October—plus you will be allocated the best available seats.

Celluloid Saturday day pass

Price:£40

Celluloid Saturday day pass—under-25s

Price:£30

Present your confirmation at the festival delegate desk on 12 October to receive your tickets for the day’s events

Price:

If you’d like to go the extra reel and be part of keeping the magic of cinema alive, then we invite you to become a Supporter of Widescreen Weekend.

Other than our heartfelt gratitude, this pass brings no extra benefits than the standard delegate pass. It does, however, help bring more ‘wow’ moments to the festival. More Supporter passes means more film on film in the programme.

If you want to share your passion for analogue film and play your part in keeping archive cinema experiences accessible, then please consider becoming a Supporter.

Supporter pass

Price:£250

Passes and tickets

Passes cannot be bought after the deadline of 30 August 2019

Your online booking does not act as your pass. Report to the Festival Desk on the day to collect your delegate pass, which will grant you access to all events and screenings

All screenings have reserved seating. Selected seats cannot be changed once a pass or ticket has been purchased

When you purchase a pass, your chosen seats will be your allocated seat for all screenings in Pictureville Cinema. For any screenings in IMAX or Cubby Broccoli Cinema, you will be allocated the best available seat

Pass holders cannot book in advance for screenings in IMAX or Cubby Broccoli Cinema after the deadline (30 August 2019). Tickets may be picked up on the day of the screening, though they are at risk at selling out

Concessions

Concessions available to those under 15, over 60, anyone receiving disability benefits, income support or Job Seekers’ Allowance, students in possession of an NUS card, and Passport to Leisure card holders

Refund policy

The deadline for refunds for passes is 30 August 2019

We can only process refunds for individual tickets up to 48 hours before the start of the screening

Where to stay

Widescreen Weekend is proud to have the Great Victoria Hotel as our hotel partner. As part of this partnership, festival delegates can benefit from special discounted rates when staying between 10–13 October 2019.

Room only: £55 per night for single or double use

B&B: £60 per night for single use—an extra £7 will be charged for double use

Centrally located in Bradford, the Great Victoria Hotel is just 7 minutes' walk from the museum

Further information

WOMEN IN WIDESCREEN

This special celebration showcases amazing women in film—on screen and behind the scenes. Look out for the Women in Widescreen stamp online and in our programme.

CELLULOID SATURDAY

Celluloid Saturday brings you a fantastic selection of film on film. With a range of genres in a variety of analogue formats, Celluloid Saturday is an exciting way to experience what Widescreen Weekend is all about.

The full festival programme will be announced in August.

What is widescreen cinema?

Technically, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 ‘Academy ratio’ of 35mm film. Widescreen Weekend celebrates the really wide formats developed in the 1950s and 1960s to create a whole new cinema experience.

The higher the first number in the aspect ratio, the more we love it! You won’t see a film in this year’s festival narrower than 2.2:1, and you can luxuriate in the widest of vistas in both archive epics and modern classics.

What is 3-strip Cinerama?

Cinerama is a widescreen process that projects film simultaneously from three synchronized 35mm projectors onto a huge, deeply curved screen, creating one image. It was the first of a number of processes introduced during the ‘widescreen war’ of the 1950s, when the film industry had to compete against television.

Our Pictureville Cinema is one of only three in the world that can still show Cinerama in the way it was originally presented to audiences. A 3-strip Cinerama film forms part of the programme at Widescreen Weekend each year.

About Pictureville Cinema

Pictureville—the spiritual home of Widescreen Weekend—was described by Lord Puttnam as ‘the best cinema in the world’. Its deeply curved, louvred screen makes us one of only three public venues in the world that can still show Cinerama, in both 35mm and digital formats. Today, Pictureville also has the latest 4K digital projection system and fabulous 7.1 surround sound.

The Student Widescreen Film of the Year Competition 2019 is open for submissions. Visit our Film Freeway page for more information and submission guidelines.